When a person is afflicted with periodontal disease and gum inflammation progresses, tissue around teeth is destroyed and blind pockets are formed. In order to effectively treat the disease, it is necessary to measure the depth of the blind pocket to determine the course of the gingivitis.
One commonly used measuring probe is a metal rod having a head and a thin doglegged metal measuring needle attached thereto. Gradations are etched on the measuring needle of the head. When the tip of this measuring needle is inserted into the blind pocket, the pocket's depth can be measured by observing which gradations remain visible.
But the thin metal needle tip can easily wound the patient's gum when inserted into the affected area, and the device may not give accurate measurements because the needle tip cannot be accurately positioned at the bottom of the blind pocket.
Furthermore, this device does not give accurate measurements because the patient's mouth cavity is dark. In the case of group dental examinations that frequently take place in schools and companies, the lighting is often inadequate for examination purposes and it is difficult for the user to see the fine gradation cuts on the thin needle.
The tool must also be well sterilized after each use in order to avoid infection of contagious disease such as AIDS and B-type hepatitis. This takes time and is impractical where hundreds of persons are being examined in a group dental examination at a school or a company. In such a situations, tools are often re-used after being quickly sterilized, but such a simplified sterilization is not sufficient, and inflammation of a mouth region is often transmitted to other patients.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,734, issued in 1993, attempted to address these deficiencies in the art. In that invention, the handle includes a light source and is w coupled to the measuring probe attachment in a secure yet easily removable way. The device is sanitary because the measuring probe can be replaced with a new one after being contaminated by a diseased mouth region. The measuring portion is made of optical plastic and has preselected spacing indicators to emit light provided by a light source. The light source consists of a battery and a miniature bulb in the handle.
But the device is expensive to manufacture because it consists of two separate pieces, and it is cumbersome and difficult to maneuver in the mouth cavity because of the light source being built into the handle.
Another dental probe is described in registered Japanese utility model No. 1704625. It is an object of that invention to suppress secondary microbe infections by using polyacetar plastic for the probe, to which microbes do not adhere. Dentists can measure the depth of a blind pocket by inserting the cut or colored needle to the area between the gum and the tooth. Unlike the traditional stainless probe, it is possible to insert the polyacetate measuring probe into a space between teeth without damaging the gum. However, it is difficult for the user to see the fine gradation cuts on the thin needle because the patient's mouth cavity is dark. To improve the visibility, the cuts can be given various colors, but the production cost becomes high. Even if the cuts are colored, it is difficult to see cuts under the bad conditions of poor lighting facilities in schools or companies.
Aside from the deficiencies, there are no devices that can be used to probe and locate the tartar and other foreign matters in blind pockets. If the tartar is not removed in the early stages, it can cause Riggs' disease. Presently, dentists and their assistants must rely on intuition and guesswork to remove the tartar from the blind pocket with a scaler.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a dental probe for measuring the depth of a blind pocket that can be accurately employed in low-light conditions, and that is easily manufactured, relatively inexpensive and lightweight.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a dental probe that does not injure the gum tissue and that does not require sterilization after each use.
It is yet a further object of this invention to provide a dental probe that can also be used to probe the location of tartar and other foreign matters in a blind gum pocket.